Drone Strikes Impact Amazon Facilities in UAE and Bahrain
Amazon's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reported that drones struck three of its facilities located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain following US and Israeli military actions against Iran over the weekend.
The events took place on Sunday morning. Initially, AWS stated that "objects" had impacted a data centre in the UAE, causing "sparks and fire." On the same day, AWS also announced it was investigating power and connectivity disruptions at a facility in Bahrain.
On Monday, AWS confirmed that the outages were the result of drone strikes.
Implications for Technology Infrastructure Amid Conflict
These incidents underscore the susceptibility of critical technology infrastructure, such as data centres, during periods of military conflict.
AWS detailed that two facilities in the UAE were directly hit, while in Bahrain, a drone strike occurred in close proximity to one of its facilities, causing physical damage to the infrastructure.
The company explained that the drones inflicted structural damage, interrupted power supply to the infrastructure, and in certain cases, necessitated fire suppression efforts that led to additional water damage.
AWS is actively working to restore services in the affected locations but noted that recovery may require time due to the extent of physical damage.
The company advised its customers in the region to back up their data and consider "potentially migrate workloads" to other AWS facilities worldwide.
Furthermore, AWS cautioned that the ongoing conflict contributes to an "unpredictable" operating environment in the Middle East.
Context of Regional Conflict
US President Donald Trump indicated that the strikes on Iran could continue for four to five weeks but might extend "far longer."
In response, Iran has launched multiple missile and drone attacks targeting US bases and allied nations throughout the region, including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
